Wouldn't it be easier and more effective to replace the cast iron radiator with something else, a baseboard radiator for example? You might even consider replacing it with under-the-floor radiant heat. No CO issues at all and takes up no space and no additional gas use or installation.
BTW did you ever get the shower valve replaced? Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Rossi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 5:27 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] The great floor / fireplace / asbestos project. > So, a while back, Teresa and I decided to put a hardwood floor in our > living room. We went out, purchased prefinished, 3/4 inch oak boards and > brought them home to acclimatize to the house. > > We ripped out the carpeting in the living room and when I saw what was > under it, a cold shiver ran down my spine. It was large sheets of > linoleum. I had a bad feeling that, this being pretty old, it might > contain asbestos. I sliced a corner out and pulled it up. It came up > easily, had a fibrous backing, and some bit of dried up mastic. It > caused an iching sensation like fiberglass does. > > I dropped it in a baggy, sealed it up and took it to Teresa's brothers who > are contractors. They said, "Hey, that looks like asbestos." > > I did a bunch of research on the net and came to a couple of conclusions. > I could either have it removed professionally, remove it myself, or lay > down new floor over the linoleum and pretend it doesn't exist. Well, > having it done professionally was a tad cost prohibitive so it came down > to removing it myself or pretending it doesn't exist. > > the whole pretending thing wasn't really working for me since this stuff > is laid down on rough pine planks and you can see gaps here and there from > the basement looking up. So, I could pretend it doesn't exist, but if it > is asbestos, it is probably filtering down into the basement anyway. > > so, I read up on asbestos removal and decided to remove the stuff. You > have to seal off the room with plastic over all the major doorways and > such. You need plastic suits, head to toe, hood, booties, gloves, all > taped up. You need asbestos rated masks. You need to pull negative > pressure in the room to keep any dust from getting into the rest of the > house. A real heppa vacuum is also a very good idea. > > So, I purchased asbestos rated masks, which turn out to be a lot cheaper > than I expected. I picked up plastic suits with booties and hoods, also > quite cheap. I stocked up on three mill plastic sheets and a roll of duct > tape, I really don't care if it rips paint off the walls, just so long as > the plastic stays up. I found where I can rent a heppa vacuum. I can put > a couple of box fans in the windows to blow out and draw negative pressure > on the room. (OK, so they aren't blowing into a containment system, but > that is basically the big difference between the pros and my plan.) > > You seal off the room from the rest of the house, put the fans in the > window, suit up, gently pull the stuff up and stuff it into super heavy > plastic bags, vacuum the hell out of the place with the heppa vacuum, > vacuum each other off, step outside and wipe each other down with water, > remove the plastic suits, and head for the showers. > > So, I've got the plan, but I still don't know if I have asbestos. I took > my sample to a lab, and I got the report this morning. No asbestos. > That's a relief but the process will stay the same since whatever the > fibrous material on the back of the linoleum is, it is still an irritant. > > Now, once all that is done I can get ready to put down the floor, but > wait, there's more. > > We got to talking and thought "Wouldn't it be nice if we could get rid of > that huge cast iron radiator taking up about 8% of the length of our > living room." How could we do that and not freeze to death. Oddly > enough, I had just been speaking with a good friend of mine who has > ventless fireplaces in his home. These are natural gas burning fireplaces > that do not require a flew. They burn at 99.9% efficiency and so toss out > only trace amounts of CO or Co2 but a fare bit of moisture. Moisture is > not all that bad in the winter time though. As a matter of fact, a lot of > people run humidifiers during the winter because the air is too dry. > > anyway, many of you who have never heard of ventless fireplaces are > probably cringing saying, you can't have a fireplace with no flew? You'll > die? You'll get Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Well, not true. These things > are certified by the National Fire Institute. They have an O2 sensor > built in and will either kick off the fire or not start if the Oxygen > level drops. You can read lots of bad things on the net about these, but > you can also read lots of good things on the net. I don't believe > anything I read on the net but I do believe my friend who has ten of them > in his current house, (6000 square feet), and had two of them in his > previous house for about 8 years. He is an engineer dweeb even worse than > me, so I know he checked these things out seven ways til Sunday. > > You can't use them as a primary heat source, but I figure the furnace will > keep the room cool, but not warm, and when we come home, we can kick on > the fireplace and heat that room up a bit. > > The next step is getting someone to check out the fireplace and make sure > it is OK for a fire. That happens tomorrow morning. > > So, I started out to install a floor, ended up preparing to rip out a cast > iron radiator, tare out hazardous material, install a fireplace. MAN OH > MAN! Doesn't any project just have one phase? > > -- > Blue skies. > Dan Rossi > Carnegie Mellon University. > E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: (412) 268-9081 > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various > List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.17.15/659 - Release Date: > 30/01/2007 > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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